34 Numbers and Abbreviations
Numbers
1 Spell out numbers that can be expressed in one or two words. Otherwise, use numerals—the numbers themselves.
During the past five years, over twenty-five barracuda have been caught in the lake.
The parking fine was ten dollars.
In my grandmother's attic are eighty-four pairs of old shoes.
But
Each year about 250 baby trout are added to the lake.
My costs after contesting a parking fine in court were $135.
Grandmother has 382 back copies of Reader's Digest in her attic.
2 Be consistent when you use a series of numbers. If some numbers in a sentence or paragraph require more than two words, then use numerals throughout the selection:
During his election campaign, State Senator Mel Grabble went to 3 county fairs, 16 parades, 45 cookouts, and 112 club dinners, and delivered the same speech 176 times.
3 Use numerals for dates, times, addresses, percentages, and parts of a book.
The letter was dated April 3, 1872.
My appointment was at 6:15. (But: Spell out numbers before o'clock. For example: The doctor didn't see me until seven o'clock.)
He lives at 212 West 19th Street.
About 20 percent of our class dropped out of school.
Turn to page 179 in Chapter 8 and answer questions 1-10.
Activity
Cross out the mistakes in numbers and write the corrections in the spaces provided.
1. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December the seventh, nineteen forty-one.
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2. When the 2 children failed to return from school, over 50 people volunteered to search for them.
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3. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon last Thursday, an earthquake destroyed at least 20 buildings in the town.
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Abbreviations
While abbreviations are a helpful time-saver in note-taking, you should avoid most abbreviations in formal writing. Listed below are some of the few abbreviations that can be used acceptably in compositions. Note that a period is used after most abbreviations.
1 Mr., Mrs., Ms., Jr., Sr., Dr. when used with proper names:
Mr. Tibble Dr. Stein Ms. O'Reilly
2 Time references:
a.m. or a.m. p.m. or p.m. b.c. or a.d.
3 First or middle name in a signature:
R. Anthony Curry Otis T. Redding J. Alfred Prufrock
4 Organizations and common terms known primarily by their initials:
FBI UN CBS FM VCR
Activity
Cross out the words that should not be abbreviated and correct them in the spaces provided.
1. On a Sat. morning I will never forget, Jan. 15, 2000, at ten min. after eight o'clock, I came downstairs and discovered that I had been robbed.
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2. For six years I lived at First Ave. and Gordon St. right next to Shore Memorial Hosp., in San Fran., Calif.
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3. Before her biol. and Eng. exams, Linda was so nervous that her doc. gave her a tranq.
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Review Test
Cross out the mistakes in numbers and abbreviations and correct them in the spaces provided.
1. At three-fifteen p.m., an angry caller said a bomb was planted in a bus stat. locker.
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2. Page eighty-two is missing from my chem. book.
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3. Martha has over 200 copies of People mag.; she thinks they may be worth money someday.
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4. When I was eight yrs. old, I owned three cats, two dogs, and 4 rabbits.
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5. Approx. half the striking workers returned to work on Nov. third, two thousand one.
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